I feel like I’ve advanced to a new level. You know, like in a game when you finally finish one, then go on to the next, and it is, of course, harder.

There was the whole thing with the lawsuit. I came out of it realizing, probably for the first time, that there are really evil people out there and that they look like normal people and sort of act like normal people until you get on their wrong side. And I learned that the “systems” of the world are not necessarily on the side of right.

Well, I got another lesson along that same line today, totally out of the blue. We were going to get a puppy today. We’d gone to the animal shelter Friday, and they had a litter of puppies. We were told they were going to be ready to take on Wednesday and to be here right away when they open at 10, because there were a lot of people interested. I was so nervous that we would get there and there would be a lot of people already in line.

First of all, we got there an hour early, because Dad thought they opened at 9:00. I didn’t want to argue, because I figured an hour early couldn’t hurt, in case I was wrong and they didn’t open at 10, as I thought the man had said. So when we got there at about 8:45, we walked around outside for another look at them, just to make sure the one we’d picked was the one we really wanted. It was.

Then we left and came back around 9:30. We were the first ones there! We sat at the front door until 10:00. One other couple arrived during that time and they wanted a different one. I was elated. I couldn’t wait until we got our puppy. But when they brought them out for us to choose, he wasn’t there. Dad said, “Just wait, they’ll bring him out.” Finally we went in to ask  about him and were told that someone had come and chosen him earlier that morning. They were a little unclear as to what time, but it had to be between the time we left the first time around 8:55 and came back around 9:30. We were there for a half hour and they never let us in early to choose one.  We’d also found out earlier from the other couple that the one female was also already claimed ahead of time.

Long story short – I felt God was leading us to this puppy. He’d brought us to the shelter on the day they were almost ready, so we could choose one in advance. He got us there on time. But God doesn’t mess with the way the world works. He guides us, but sometimes we come up against people who don’t play fair. God’s Spirit helps us deal with it, of course, but He doesn’t remove us from being impacted by the evil in this world.  Christians get sick.  Christian’s houses burn down or get flooded. And Christian’s get cheated.

But God is with us, and I can only believe  that He has a better plan since someone wrecked this one for us.